The present invention relates generally to providing encryption in computer telephony systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for encrypting audio data that is transmitted between computer telephony systems, such as via a computer network.
As transmission speeds and bandwidth sizes increase, computer telephony is becoming increasingly more prevalent. Accordingly, several vendors now provide telephony application packages for home and business use. These telephony applications are typically loaded onto two or more computers so that two users of two computers may communicate telephonically.
The value that a telephony application provides to a particular user is generally proportional to the number of other users that also utilize a telephony application. For example, if all of the particular user's friends or colleagues also utilize a telephony application, the user will likely find the telephony application quite valuable and frequently use it to talk with his friends or colleagues. In contrast, if none of the particular user's friends or colleagues utilize a telephony software, the user will likely find their telephony software to be quite useless.
However, an increase in computer telephony users has associated disadvantages. For example, as the number of computer telephony users increases, it becomes more likely that the security of a particular user's communication may be breached by a hacker. That is, sabotage or pilfering of computer telephonic communications becomes more attractive to hackers as the number of users and corresponding telephonic communications increase.
In response to concerns about potential hackers, a few vendors of telephony applications have attempted to include security features within their application software. The security features are typically tightly integrated with formatting software modules that vary between different types of telephony applications. That is, the security algorithms are dependent on the formatting algorithms that are specifically designed for a particular telephony application from a particular vendor. Thus, conventional security features typically include decryption and encryption that only works on data, e.g., audio, that is sent between two users of the same telephony application.
Traditionally, the encryption of voice communication in computer telephony systems has occurred in “user mode”: either in the application itself, in its coder/decoder (codec) components, or in the communication stack being used. As a result, encrypted audio communication between computer telephony clients produced by different companies is not possible with conventional security features. In other words, different telephony vendors do not offer compatible security mechanisms.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for alternative, more flexible computer telephony apparatus and techniques that provide encryption and decryption for communication between different computer telephony clients.